Plz help me build my buddy a computer...

[Guttboy]

Hi Everyone,

Here goes. My buddy would like to build his own computer and has asked me to help him do so. My dilemna is that I am not sure what is what nowadays and I dont want to steer him wrong.

So here is what he desires.....

1) It has to be able to play games such as America's Army/Counter Strike at screen resolution of at least 1280x1024 with medium to high details.

2) Would like to play other games (first person shooters, real time strategies) out on the market today at medium to high details.

3) Frame rates at least 30-40 frames per second.

4) DVD burner, multimedia card reader (one that reads SD, Mem stick, etc).

5) 100gig HD.

Budget is MAX $1,000.00 US dollars. This does not include the monitor, keyboard, mouse....etc.

Now as far as OS' go....he is familiar with WinXP and has that on his Emachine. He would like to stay with Microsoft.

He also says, and I quote, "I want it to play games on the market today such as AA, CS, and Company of Heroes at decent graphics levels and I want to have the ability to play games in the future but not kill my budget"

He does NOT have an interest in Overclocking (yet.... ). He did see my machine and would perhaps be interested in doing so in the future....I honestly think he wont touch OC'ing for a while but I dont want to limit him from doing so.


SOOOOO.....what do you all think??? Please let us know because I have a funny feeling that in a couple weeks we will be assembling this as he is computerless now and is using MINE.....LOL.

Regards and thanks for the help in advance.....


PS....I have posted this as well on another website asking for some help as well as I mentioned before I am not up to date with graphics cards etc that are on the market today...thanks again for all the help!!!!

 

[PVTCaboose1337]

First, where in texas do you live?

Second,

I would go for this machine...

AMD Athlon 4200+ X2 (am2)
TFORCE550 (biostar) (am2)
2 x GB Ram (G.Skill DDR2 800)
eVGA 7600gt or sapphire x1650xt

 

[PVTCaboose1337]

o... here

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103747
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813138026
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130017
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231065 <-- I have
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103937 <-- modular ftw

(Total 754, with room for a DVD drive, and an HD. )

 

[Guttboy]

PVT Caboose....we are in San Antonio and have been hit with this ice storm and have been with and without power all night....LOL

 

[PVTCaboose1337]

PVT Caboose....we are in San Antonio and have been hit with this ice storm and have been with and without power all night....LOL

LOL, so what do you think of the specs? And your specs?

 

[Guttboy]

They look pretty good....but remember I am NOT a computer guru with stuff these days. I noticed the 7600 is dual DVI correct?

 

[PVTCaboose1337]

Yeah, dual dvi is pretty standard. But all cards come with two dvi to olden time converters mind you.

 

[Guttboy]

cool.....did you look at my specs.....how would that sys compare to what I have as a baseline for us to judge....he likes the way my rig performs, and I just recently OC'd it 10% and it does really well....btw....will it run Vista? I have no concept of that OS and will be sticking with XP as long as I can because its paid for....LOL

 

[Guttboy]

Another subject....what about cases...any suggestions?

 

[PVTCaboose1337]

Price range, well... steel or aluminum?

 

[PVTCaboose1337]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811119068 <--amazing steel
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811112099 <--cheap but REALLY GOOD aluminum
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811133145 <--my case

 

[Guttboy]

Something that will be cooled well and is pretty functional....clear sides would be nice for him...mine has it...lol.....What is the diff between steel and aluminum as far as cases go

 

[PVTCaboose1337]

Aluminum = better at heat and lighter. I think the centurion with clear side is a good candidate.

 

[zekrahminator]

PVT Caboose....we are in San Antonio and have been hit with this ice storm and have been with and without power all night....LOL

Ice storm + Texas = .

 

[PVTCaboose1337]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811119077 <good value, great case

 

[PVTCaboose1337]

Ice storm + Texas = .

hez not kidding, There is ice all around us and some ponds froze over. It is 21f here right now.

 

[zekrahminator]

I know he's not kidding...absolutely crazy weather we're having. Why, just last weekend I was enjoying 70*F temps, and now...It's 20F and falling. It's not supposed to get above 22 tomorrow, time to break out the winter coat and put the frisbee away . On a more serious, less thread jacking note...Looks like you need a high-powered single core CPU (reccomend Athlon 64 series), a good bunch of RAM (1-2GB), and a nice graphics card (X1900GT goes for what, $150?).

 

[Guttboy]

zek....seriously....it is a mess here......trust me I know....I am a "Masshole" by birth and all through til I was 18.....lived in Chelmsford then.....

but on a lighter note....any suggestions?

 

[PVTCaboose1337]

reccomend Athlon 64 series X2), a good bunch of RAM (2GB), and a nice graphics card (X1900GT goes for what, $150?).

I think dual core, and I agree with x1900gt, also, check the hot deals section at the bottom of the page...

 

[PVTCaboose1337]

o and a cooler, I almost forgot, a Arctic Freezer 64 Pro = Teh pwnzor. I have, it works, looks cool, kthxbye. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835185125

 

[zekrahminator]

The reason I'm saying stay away from X2 is because dual core sometimes doesn't give a lot of benefits. For example, there was a thread a while back, where someone complained their Pentium D 805 (2.6GHz) was not a lot better than a Cenerlon 3GHz (something like that). Basically, you won't notice that second core in single-threaded apps, which a lot of classic games like CS:S happen to be. So why spend money on a dual core proccie when you can get a really fast single core one?

 

[PVTCaboose1337]

The reason I'm saying stay away from X2 is because dual core sometimes doesn't give a lot of benefits. For example, there was a thread a while back, where someone complained their Pentium D 805 (2.6GHz) was not a lot better than a Celeron 3GHz (something like that). Basically, you won't notice that second core in single-threaded apps, which a lot of classic games like CS:S happen to be. So why spend money on a dual core proccie when you can get a really fast single core one?

Cause he wants a DVD burner which implies he would benefit from a dual core. Why not? But I have a single core and love it, but dual core FOR THE FUTURE will be key...

 

[PVTCaboose1337]

O and one more thing... 250gb 7200rpm WD HD. Good price, uber storage...

 

[Guttboy]

As far as dualcore....I am running one here on my laptop....dont really notice anything different about it whatsoever...perhaps because I dont play games and burn DVD's on this....so I guess I dont really know the benefits of it.

But he does want to have future capability....so the question arises, what is better for the future...a kick ass single core or a mid road dual core


BTW....how does this system compare to the one in my specs.....

 

[PVTCaboose1337]

His system will beat you, but not by a longshot. That 9800 is powerful, same with the 3000+. But if he gets a dualie... future.